MP

Andrew Laming (LIB) since 2004.

Profile

Covers the whole of the Redlands Shire to the east of Brisbane, along with North Stradbroke Island and a small part of Logan City around Carbrook. From north to south, it includes Thorneside, Wellington Point, Birkdale, Alexandra Hills, Capalaba, Ormiston, Cleveland, Thornlands, Victoria Point, Redland Bay and all of the populated Moreton Bay islands. The seat's land area is 573 sq.km.

Redistribution

Loses the area around Cornubia in the south to Rankin, the Liberal margin slipping slightly from 9.1% to 8.9%.

History/Trivia

Created in 1949, the electorate is named after David Bowman, a former Queensland state MP. Former members include Len Keogh (ALP 1969-75, 1983-87), David Jull (Lib 1975-83) and Con Sciacca (1987-96, 1998-2004). After his defeat in 1983, Jull was elected to the neighbouring seat of Fadden in 1984. Sciacca was swept aside in Labor's disastrous 1996 Queensland result, but returned to represent the seat again from 1998. A redistribution before the 2004 election carved off parts of Bowman into the new seat of Bonner, which Sciacca contested unsuccessfully in 2004.

Main Candidates

41 year-old Laming was born in Hobart but spent his early years in Papua-New Guinea before finishing his schooling on the Sunshine Coast and studying medicine at the University of Queensland. He has since gone on to work as a GP and ophthalmologist in outback Australia and in overseas medical programs in Afghanistan and East Timor. He's also been an international rower, completed a Master of Public Administration through Harvard University, worked as an adviser to former Health Minister Kay Patterson and worked to set up a local eye surgery in Redlands. His Labor opponent is Jason Young, a local resident for 17 years who worked as an electrical fitter/mechanic in major construction jobs before becoming an official of the Electrical Trades Union in 2003.

Issues and Polls

Laming's office was under investigation over accusations of rorting printing allowances, though some of the allegations may be part of the far older story of factional intrigues in the Queensland Liberal Party. Of the three MPs originally under investigation, Laming was the last to be released from investigation, though reports made it unclear whether police were investigating Laming or accusations of forgery by someone else.

Assessment

Despite its large margin, this is a seat rated as a possible Labor to win.